Rescuers recovered another body from the ferry tragedy that occurred off northern Cyprus in late August, raising the death toll to 19 with nine people still missing, officials said Saturday.
Within hours of the tragedy, police arrested nine people on suspicion of death through negligence, among them ferry captain Mustafa Oz, seven crew members and a director of Filo Denizcilik, the ferry’s operator. Rescuers pulled 239 people to safety but eight others died, triggering a huge operation to find 20 missing people. At the hearing, police told the court the VDR had been handed to the Turkish authorities on September 30 and that the data stored on it had been transferred to a drive then nd returned to them but said analysing it would take some time.
On September 25, Ustel said rescuers had found the ferry’s voyage data recorder its “black box” which had been handed to the police for examination, with its data expected to give a clearer indication of what caused the tragedy. He said efforts to search the wreckage had been completed, but efforts to find those still missing would continue. All nine were back in court in Kyrenia on Friday for a hearing at which their remand in custody was extended for another seven days, the Kibris Postasi news website said.
